So, who's the aggressor?

Posted
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 1:00 pm

To the Editor:

When Benjamin Netanyahu, or his obedient followers Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, talk of a potential attack by Iran, why doesn’t the media remind us who has actually attacked whom? The last time Iran attacked another nation was nearly three centuries ago. (In 1738, Nader Shah invaded India.)On the other hand, since World War II, the U.S. and Israel have bombed, invaded or otherwise attacked dozens of countries, killing hundreds of thousands of people – perhaps a million. Iran itself has often been the target.In 1953, the CIA overthrew Iran’s democratically elected government and made Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi dictator with the brutal organization SAVAK to eliminate his opponents. In 1958, an American ship “accidentally” shot down an Iranian airliner killing all 230 adults and 60 children on board. In the 1980s, President Reagan attacked Iran by proxy, supporting Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran. Israel has bombed or invaded Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and, of course, Palestine itself.Today, the U.S. and Israel are apparently behind the sabotage of Iran’s nuclear facilities and murders of its nuclear scientists and engineers. Much of this is actually carried out by the MEK (the People’s Mujahedin), designated a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. The U.S. recently lifted the “terrorist” designation so that we can legally work with the MEK.The U.S. has imposed crushing sanctions on the people of Iran, much as we did in the 1990s on the people of Iraq – another population that had done nothing to us.Iran’s nuclear program is said to be a threat to Israel and the U.S. Ironically, Iran began its program for nuclear energy in 1957 with the U.S. supplying nuclear material. At that time, Iran was ruled by our friend, dictator Reza Pahlavi. After Reza Pahlavi was overthrown in 1979, Iran’s religious leaders continued the nuclear-energy program. But they have repeatedly renounced nuclear weapons, calling for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. And as a party to the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), Iran has accepted numerous inspections of its nuclear facilities.On the other hand, Israel has a secretive nuclear program. It refuses to sign the NPT and will not allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities. Why is the U.S. media silent on all this?